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Orca North of Vancouver and West of Sherringham
Our day started out hearing about a single male orca up in Howe Sound north of Vancouver. We also heard of a pod, the T101’s eastbound way out west near Sheringham. Both of those were 2.5 hours or more away. I started north with three other boats spread out and searching for whales closer to home. Eventually we were with T46s including Casper and family.
Casper and Family in Juan de Fuca
We had just started into the Strait of Georgia when I hear of a pod down south of the islands. We turned and headed south. Two and a half hours into the tour we met up with the T46s, 46Bs including the T46B1’s which includes the calf I refer to as Casper whose name has been named T’luk and ID of T46B1B.
Plenty of Sea Birds
I am including a pic of a juvenile Rhinoceros Auklet because I have not captured a good pic of one before. He is missing the white markings and colored bill with a white horn. The horn is just barely showing. Beautiful bird. Then a couple of a Tufted Puffin that was camera-shy today. There is also a pic of a Pacific Common Murre, black head with white belly feathers.
More Time with the 46s
The second tour was right back to the 46’s with more views of Casper and family. We also got to see a pair of humpback whales, one of which was Two Spot for obvious reasons when you see his fluke. Notice the bumps on the head of the one with Kelp draped across its head. Those are hair follicles. The kelp makes me think he was playing with it as they often do. He kept his head on the surface for a relatively long time, which is why I think he was playing with the kelp. I could not ID the other whale.
Stellar Sea Lions and other Marine Life
There is a pic of a “branded” Stellar Sea Lion surrounded by Cormorants, that I did not know I had until on the computer. I was shooting the lion below him. The branding gets me riled a bit and wanting to start branding and tagging NOAA staff. Another pic of a big bull yawning and a younger one below him looked comical as if saying, “What are you doing?”
We saw many Harbor Porpoise in passing today and a bunch of salmon jumping wherever we went. There must not have been enough salmon for the Residents though. They were seen yesterday inbound from way out west but must have turned back to sea during the night because they did not show up today. We did see T46s including Casper and family, which are a loved group of orca.
Center for Whale Research
I read a quote from Ken Balcomb today that rings true for all of us regarding our loved Southern Resident Killer Whales and the loss of three more of these loved creatures. “We are not only losing individuals, we are losing their company, their residency. For me that is tragic. I have lost the neighbors that I love,” Ken Balcomb-Founder, Center for Whale Research
San Juan Islands Museum of Art
I hope you enjoy the pics and if you are in Friday Harbor in the next few weeks you can still see the Deep Dive exhibit at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art which is an in depth look at our Salish Sea and the challenges our marine life faces. I am thrilled everytime I mention this because two of my photos are on display in the museum.
Check out some of my other photoblog pages at Whale Tales.
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